


True Love Winns the Day (or, Rather, the Eve)

by Peggystormborn



Series: Every Time...A Karamel Anthology [6]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Canon compliant through end of season 3, Established Relationship, Ever is obviously not evil, F/M, KaraMel, Karamel spent 10 years in the future then came back with their kids, Minor Barry Allen, Minor Cisco Ramon, Minor Wally West
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-26 01:18:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15652818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peggystormborn/pseuds/Peggystormborn
Summary: Kara and Mon-El FINALLY realize Eve and Winn might just be perfect for each other. But setting them up isn't as easy as it sounds.





	True Love Winns the Day (or, Rather, the Eve)

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, we're assuming here that Lena's work on the harun-el is totally benign and sanctioned by Kara. Per my earlier work, Lena now knows Kara's secret identity. Per my OTHER earlier work, Kara Mon and Winn spent ten years in the future together and are married.

True Love Winns the Day (Or, Rather, the Eve)

“I think it's time for an intervention,” the blonde Kryptonian says, apropos of nothing, to her Daxamite husband one morning. Mildly startled, he looks up from brushing his teeth at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Strictly speaking, he isn't at risk for tooth decay or even morning breath, but this is one of those morning rituals, like putting on deodorant, that helps them maintain the ruse that they're just a regular human couple. Plus he likes the minty flavor.

“Whaa, whad a duh?”

“What?”

He spits into the sink and rinses his mouth out. “I said ‘Why, what did I do?’”

“Wh...oh. No, not you. Winn.”

“What about him?”

“We've been back for eight months now, and he hasn't been on _one_ date. And he's not getting any younger, you know? I mean he's aging really well, probably thanks to 31st century medicine and whatnot, but he is technically over 40 now.”

“Kara…”

“He just needs a little kick in the ass, that's all.”

“Babe, I dunno. This doesn't feel like a situation that might benefit from our involvement.”

“You don't know that! And honestly, I don't think he's going to get back out there on his own, so I don't see how we could make things worse.”

Mon-El sighs. “I'm not going to talk you out of this, am I?”

“Mmmm...no, not likely.”

“Ooookay, well what do you want to do?” Since this is clearly happening with or without his input, Mon-El figures maybe two heads are better than one.

“There must be someone we can set him up with.”

“Ho boy. Like who?”

“It's got to be someone sweet, and smart, and, you know, someone he'll be attracted to.”

“Okay, but maybe someone slightly different than the types of women he's always gravitated towards.”

“Yeah, like Siobhan.”

“Not sure who that is…”

“Mean girl with sonic scream powers. Tried to kill me once.”

“Yikes. Well, I was actually thinking of Lyra. I mean she seemed okay when I met her, but after she screamed at him in the bar that time…”

“Yeah, agreed. Someone who's not into screaming, then.”

“Right. Hmm…does Lena have any smart friends?”

“Well, Sam. But she and Ruby left town. And I never got the sense dating was high on her priority list.”

“What about, like, old friends of Lena's from college or grad school that he can talk shop with?”

“Not that I can think of. But you know what, I can ask Eve. Since she's been working with Lena in the lab and apparently is some kind of physics genius...”

_Ding ding ding._

“Umm, Kara?”

“...I mean, she's gotta know some nice girls who are into science and tech...type…stuff, right?”

“Kara…”

“And if that fails, she has access to Lena's Rolodex…”

“KARA…”

“What?”

He just looks at her expectantly, half-smiling, waiting for her brain to catch up.

“What? What is that face f….OH!”

He looks at her lovingly. _That's my girl._

“Eve…” they say in unison.

“How on Earth has this never occurred to us before?” Kara muses.

“I honestly don't know. But to be fair, we've been pretty busy these last…well, always.”

“Yeah, but still. Do you think she'd be into him?”

“Only one way to find out.”

They look at each other, that old giddy excitement flaring up that they've always had when hatching this sort of a plan.

“ _SHENANIGANS_!” they say at once, eyes shining at each other.

********

The first phase on the plan is simple: get them into the same room and see if there is any chemistry.

And they figure the best place to establish chemistry between two huge science nerds might be in an actual chemistry lab. So they enlist the help of a good friend.

“Heeeeey, feels like old times,” Winn says to Lena as he walks through the door into LCorp's science lab. “What are we conjuring up today?”

To him, it's been well over ten years since he last set foot in this joint, when they were helping Sam. But he'd been in and out of the place quite a bit back then, spending long days trying to figure out how to defeat Reign. Since he spent most of that decade away in the future with Kara and Mon-El, coming back to the 21st century only a day after they'd left, it technically had only been about a year since those days of puttering around running Lena's experiments. He wonders if anyone ever drank that bottle of iced tea he left in the office fridge.

He looks around at the assortment of beakers and Bunsen burners heating odd-colored liquids.

“Hi, Winn!” Lena, smiling, greets him warmly. Honestly, a little more warmly than he's used to. He was half-expecting to show up, have some random lab flunky point him at a terminal, and just dig in to the assignment at hand.

“Okay, so you know as a favor to...uh…Supergirl... I'm testing the properties of the black rock to see if it can be used to effectively render kryptonite harmless.”

Winn raises an eyebrow at Lena for a moment, a little confused as to why she's pretending not to know their mutual friend’s secret identity. Lena gestures to the left with her head and he glances over to see a crop of lovely blond curls huddled over a centrifuge. _Oh. We're not alone. Got it._

“Uh, Winn, I'd like you to meet Ms. Eve Teschmacher. She's been a tremendous asset to my work here. Miss Teschmacher, this is Winn Schott. He's an associate of Supergirl's.”

With that, Eve turns around, curls twirling and bouncing as she moves, and it's as if she's spinning in slow motion for a moment. Winn's throat goes a little dry as he sees her, and he suddenly understands what people mean when they say someone's smile lights up a room. She's like human sunshine.

“H...pwuh...uh, hello,” he stammers.

“Uh...Hi! Nice to meet you!” she says, with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm. She hadn't been expecting to meet a cute guy this morning, and his sudden presence catches her a little off-guard. As she steps toward him to shake his hand, she bobbles a little bit on her heels and drops the notebook she was holding in one hand. They both reach down to grab it resulting, inevitably, in the painful collision of their two craniums, making a cringeworthy sound like coconuts knocking together. Winn sees stars for a moment, and when his vision returns he realizes he's inches from her face, her hand covering the spot where his forehead crashed into hers.

“Oh, God, I'm so sorry,” he apologizes.

“No, it's fine. My fault.”

“No, no, you were just...I shouldn't have…”

Lena cuts in. “Okay, guys, as long as neither of your are seriously injured, can we get started?”

Embarrassed, they both work in silence for a little while.

“So…nuclear physics at Yale, huh?” Winn starts, half trying to fill the uncomfortable silence and half genuinely interested. She raises an eyebrow at him. “Oh, I, uh, also happen to know Kara Danvers. You know, cause she's friends with... Supergirl. Oh, and James. I used to work at Catco, too. I mean before I started working with... Supergirl.” He's always struggled with keeping his story straight and remembering in any given situation who the person he's talking to thinks he is and what they know about his very weird life. He looks at her, seeing that look of vague confusion people often give him when he's blabbering.

Ugh. Just once, he'd like to be able to look cool in front of a pretty girl. _Wonder what that's like_...

“Uh, yeah. I studied with Jen Steinmetz O'Grady, among others.”

“Oh, right. She just published that paper on quantum chromodynamics, right? Pretty interesting stuff.”

“Uh...yes, actually. I mean, I think so. It's funny, even Lena finds her stuff a little boring but I'm just _fascinated_ by her theories.” Her smile is finally back and it lifts Winn out of his funk a little. “So what did you say you did at Catco?”

“I was the IT guy.”

“And now you develop tech with Supergirl? That's quite a step up.”

“Well, you too! I mean you were James's assistant, right?”

“Yes. Much less stressful than working for Ms. Grant. She was…terrifying.”

“Well, that's partly because of Kara. I don't think anyone could have measured up to her as Cat's right hand gal. I'm sure you were really really great, though!”

“Not really. I mean, I can run lab experiments on alien rocks just fine, but apparently remembering the right salad dressing is a talent I do not possess.”

Winn laughs, maybe a little too loud. “Well, that's okay. I worked there for years before she had any idea I existed. And my desk was like ten feet from her office.”

Eve chortles, picturing it. “Well I think I would have preferred being a no-name to hearing her screaming ‘MISS TESCHMACHER’ every five minutes.”

She looks to her right, clicking buttons on one of Lena's fancier pieces of equipment meant to spectro-analyze the rock sample she's been testing. There's a green post-it with the words “left dial is misaligned, recalibrate by 0.67°”. Not for the first time, she sends a quick mental thank-you to whatever nameless technician left these notes all over the place. They've been incredibly helpful. And whoever it was sure knew what he or she was doing.

“So, now you work with Supergirl, right? Is that, like, your day job?”

Winn chuckles a little nervously. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, how do you, you know, pay the bills? I wouldn't imagine she pays you a salary.”

 _Uh oh._ “Uh…well, I guess your could say I do…. odd jobs.”

“Odd jobs such as…”

“Uh…I don't…really talk about it much.”

He's got her attention now. She turns toward him, away from the sample she's analyzing. Eve is no slouch at solving puzzles, and this intriguing if odd goofball is one riddle she finds she very much wants to suss out.

“Hmm. Man of mystery, eh? Answer me this, then. That ring you're wearing: it's the same as the ones Kara and Mike wear. I mean, Kara wears hers on a chain around her neck, but I've glimpsed it. What, are you guys in a club or gang or something?”

Gulp. _She's good_. He fiddles with the item in question, twisting it around his finger. He probably shouldn't be wearing this out in public, but he'd gotten so used to it in the future. It had become almost a part of himself. Not wearing it felt…strange.

“I...wuuuhhh, that? It's just…sort of a friendship ring.”

“Really? Because Supergirl wears the same one. She one of your BFFs too?”

“Pffft….ha…you got me! We got the rings from Supergirl. She…gives them to people who help her out…sometimes.” _God, is she buying any of this?_

“Huh. Well, Kara I get, they work together on all kinds of things, but did Mike help her out somehow?”

“I dunno, maybe he and Kara both did…with something…Hey! Your machine is about to…” he grabs her and spins her around to his far side, away from the...

BOOM!

The glass panel on the analyzer shatters, shards of glass and rock everywhere. Luckily, they avoided the epicenter of the blast.

“What the hell?!” She emerges from behind him, looking at the remains of the machine. “Oh crap! I guess the rock must have reacted to the machine's radiation! Dammit, this thing is expensive! Oh, Ms. Luthor is gonna freak when she sees this! Why did I let myself get so distracted? I should have been watching!”

“It's okay! It's my fault, I'm the one who distracted you.”

“Yeah, uh…whatever. Excuse me.” She looks at her hair in the silver reflection of one of the machines. It's now dusted with black bits of debris, along with her sweater. _Oh, crap, I look awful!_ She tells herself. Suddenly self-conscious, she marches off to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

Winn’s heart sinks precipitously. “Oh, well,” he says aloud, to no one in particular. “She's totally not my type anyway. Not at all.”

Watching through the glass from the next room, Lena Luthor smiles and picks up her phone.

Her text reads simply, “Operation Turtle Dove is a go.”

********

“Lena was optimistic, but I dunno. It sounds like it went terribly,” Kara reports, disheartened, to her husband.

“I'm sure it was fine.”

“She said they accidentally banged their heads together and something about a small explosion, and then Eve ran off and didn't come back until Winn left.”

“That's...not necessarily a bad thing. A little shared adversity, I mean.”

“I guess.”

“Hey, think about how we met, huh? I choked you and ran away, then you found me, beat the crap out of me, and threw me in DEO jail.”

“You may have a point there. We got off on _the wrongest_ of wrong feet.”

“I know, right? And look at us now!”

“Yeah, well let's just hope we can get these two together with a bit less angst, hmm? I don't think Winn could handle seven years of separation from his mate.”

“Mate? Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves?”

“Not if this works. Ooh! I already have a theme picked out for Eve's bridal shower.”

“Oh, Rao. Do I want to know?”

Kara lights up with excitement. “I'm thinking ‘ _A Midsummer Night's Dream’…”_

“Wow. Okay. Wait, did you plan a theme for the twins’ birthday party too?”

“Are you kidding? After four kids the theme is the same for every party. ‘Children Like Cake.’”

Mon-El bursts out laughing. “I guess you can't go wrong with that one.”

********

The party represents a second chance for these two crazy science nerds to make a first impression on each other, a fact which is not lost on their three matchmakers.

“Hi, Kara! Hi, Mike!” Eve beams when she arrives at the loft, gift bag in hand.

Kara hugs her bubbly friend, accepts the present and points her toward the table covered in platters of food.

“Wait, so she knows we're married, right?” Mon-El asks when she walks away.

“Yes. Story is we eloped in Vegas. Spur of the moment thing.”

“But she thinks my name is Mike. What if someone calls me Mon-El?”

“We'll just tell her it's a nickname.”

“Okay. What about the kids?”

“Well, I sort of told her a distant relative died and I got custody of them.”

“Ooookay…”

“It's fine. Everyone coming knows the drill.”

“If you say so.”

“I do! Oh, can you grab the Mac and Cheese out of the oven? Don't forget to use potholders!” she whispers the last bit, afraid any small display of invulnerability might give them away.

Her alien husband gives her a thumbs up and walks over to the kitchen.

When Winn arrives, he bear hugs his two best friends and picks up the twins, one in each arm, dancing them around the room singing The Beatles.

“They say it's your BIRTHDAY!!! It's my birthday TOO YEAH!”

The kids giggle and clap their hands, begging Uncle Winn to spin them some more. Until he spins them right into…Eve. Her drink goes everywhere, club soda all over her yellow sweater set. Winn freezes, like a deer in headlights, then slowly puts down the children, who promptly run off to cause more trouble elsewhere.

“Oh my God, I am so, so sorry.”

“It's…fine. Just glad it wasn't red wine. I'm gonna...”

“Yeah.” He watches as she runs off to the bathroom. Again.

Turning around with a massive sigh, he spies Barry Allen and a few of his compatriots. Spotting an opportunity to distract himself from the fact that he's a total disaster with women, he skips over and joins them.

“Barry! Hey, remember me?”

“Yeah, man! Good to see you! Um, this is my brother Wally and my friend Cisco.”

“Wow, I've heard so much about you guys. All good things! I swear…actually, Cisco, I've been looking forward to finally meeting you. That interdimensional extrapolator you made, wow, I was super impressed.”

“Back at you, man! I hear your stuff has helped save Earth-38 more than once. We should talk.”

And talk they do, for quite a while, until Wally heaves a small sigh and retrieves a silver flask from his pocket.

“No offense, guys, but I think I'll enjoy this nerdy-ass conversation slightly more with a few sips of this stuff in me,” he says.

“Dude, it's a birthday party for two toddlers,” Barry chides.

“What? It's still a party. There's alcohol here,” Wally mounts as his defense, pointing to the bottles of beer in the cooler.

“Oh, man, do you mind? I could really use a sip of whatever is in there,” Winn says, grabbing the flask and taking a swig.

“Winn! No, dude!" Cisco blurts. "That's the stuff for speedsters only!” Barry and Wally, despite their incredible speed, have not quite caught on fast enough. Wally grabs the container back, but not before a drop of the liquid hits the back of Winn’s throat. He gags at the turpentine flavor, but it's too late.

“Uh oh.” Cisco stands wide eyed, staring at his geeky new friend. “Umm, you might be about to have a pretty bad trip, man. I would go sit down if I were you.”

Almost immediately Winn's head starts swimming, and he's possessed by the urge to hug everyone.

“Ya…ya guys er mah favorites, ya know dat?” he slurs. Kara trots over, immediately assesses the situation, then drags her drunk friend into the bedroom before he passes out. Or starts saying things he shouldn't.

“Hey, Kara? Yerrrr reeeaaaally pretty. I always thought so, that's wha I totally wanted ta bang ya back in the day.”

 _Oh, Rao._ Kara hangs her head in exasperation and embarrassment. Mon-El, just arriving with a glass of water in one hand, is slightly disturbed by his friend's stream of consciousness.

“That was a long time ago, Winn. You got over it,” she says as she hands him the glass and urges him to drink it.

“Yup! And I'm, like, supes happy fer y'all. I wish I ked have what youuu all have. Those kids er beyooooooteeeful.”

“Winn, honey, of course you'll have that.”

“Nah. Not me. I'm all middle agey now and I ken NOT tell girlses why.”

“What do you mean?” Kara and Mon-El look at each other quizzically.

“Ev’rything…alllllll the stuff we did…there. I can't talk about crap like that on a first date. And I can't LLLLIIIIIE. You know. Hey! Remember when we thought Mon was a guard and then, like, UH OH! Prince. Damn Kara, you were MAAAAAAAD!”

“Winn, please keep it down.” She looks nervously over her shoulder, hoping the rest of the guests are oblivious to the scene he's making.

“Shhhh…right...no future talk. But lemme tell ya...I know you guys are tryna set me up with Eve. But y'all, thas not gonna work. I have seen th’ future and she _ain't_ in it.” With that, he blacks out. Kara and Mon-El look at each other with concern.

“Umm…” They hear a voice behind them, and simultaneously glance up to see Eve, cup of coffee in hand, staring at the three of them awkwardly.

“I thought maybe he could use…you know what, I'll just leave this here.” She deposits the mug on one of Kara's fifty end tables and scurries out of the room.

“Well. THAT went well,” Kara laments.

“Come on, babe. He's okay in here. Let's get back to the party.”

********

The next day, Lena and Eve are running their 877th trial on the black rock.

“This sample is promising, Ms. Luthor. Do you think it's time to try it against some actual Kryptonite?”

“Maybe. I'll make another batch tomorrow and run the protocol again. I want to make sure we haven't missed anything before we move forward. These substances are...unpredictable, you know?”

“Understood.”

“Hey, do you have any plans this Friday?” Lena asks her assistant.

“Uh, lemme think...nope. Just like last Friday and the one before that.” She's joking, but Lena can tell she's hiding some real loneliness there.

“Well, I was thinking of putting together a good old fashioned girls’ night. I can invite Kara, if she can tear herself away from all the tiny people she lives with now. _And_ her ridiculously handsome husband.”

“He is, isn't he? You know, I went on a date with him once. Before they were together, of course.”

“Did you? Interesting,” Lena feigns. Of course she's heard the entire story from Kara. “Well, how about this: we go out, meet some equally handsome men, and I'll play wing woman for you.”

“Umm, maybe...”

“Oh come on, it'll be fun! It's not like you're meeting a lot of cute guys sitting here in the lab. In fact, I think the only guy who's even come in here recently is Winn.”

Eve perks up a little. “Well, he's...not _un-_ cute.” _Too bad whenever he shows up I turn into a clumsy disaster and my clothes end up a mess. Plus apparently he thinks we have no future...or whatever he was saying._

Lena works hard to rein in her glee at Eve's reaction. Luckily her life as a Luthor has given her a well-trained poker face.

“Him? Ah, well he's a really nice guy, but I think we can do better for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know, he's always off helping Supergirl. Saving-the-world type stuff.”

Saving the world? “What's wrong with that?”

“Nothing, it's great, but I just think we can find you someone with a more, you know, normal life. Someone who isn't a trained federal agent jaunting off to other planets and whatever.”

“Wait, what? Is that what he does? All he really told me is he used to work at Catco.”

“Oh, yeah, I probably shouldn't have said that. Secret agent stuff. Don't tell anyone.”

“He doesn't really seem the secret agent type.”

“He doesn't, does he? He's so...I dunno, squirrelly or something. I don't think secrecy quite agrees with him. But it's the price you pay helping out Supergirl, right? I mean, what we're doing here is pretty hush-hush, too. That's why I made you sign those nondisclosure forms. I hope it doesn't bother you too much.”

“Not really. None of my friends would understand any of this anyway.” She musters a dim smile. She has friends, sure, but most of them work at places like Catco. Living “normal” lives. But working here, with Lena? On cutting-edge science involving alien substances that could possibly help not just Supergirl, but countless other people? She hadn't known until she started doing this just how much she'd been craving this type of fulfillment in her life.

“Well you've been a wonderful help here. So thank you. Though I don't know how you can stand to work here with these post-its all over everything. Another of Winn’s idiosyncrasies. ” Lena snatches one of the small green squares from the side of Eve's computer monitor and goes to throw it in the trash.

“Oh, please don't! I know they're all over the place but I find them extremely helpful...wait. Winn left all these?”

“He did. He's a bit of a slob, really. But if you work better with them stuck to everything, then have at it, my dear.”

“Thanks, Lena.” She looks down at the sticky note in her hand, at the thoughtful, looping handwriting, and carefully places it back in its original spot next to her screen.

“So what's the verdict on Friday?” Lena asks.

“Umm, let me think about it.”

********

A few days later, Eve arrives for work at the lab, bright eyed and bushy tailed as usual. As she puts down her purse and settles into her regular chair, Lena marches in, heels clacking as she quick-walks by Eve.

“Don't get comfy. We have an assignment.”

“What do you mean?”

“You're not bothered by confined spaces, right?”

Eve looks at her with suspicion. “Whyyyyy….?”

“You'll see. Come on, grab your stuff.”

They arrive half an hour later at an LCorp-owned dock near National City's harbor. Supergirl is there, along with...Winn. The butterflies in Eve's stomach start fluttering again. Why is she so nervous around him? She's not usually like this with guys. Well, okay, maybe she was a little less than subtle when she met Mike for the first time. But this is…something else.

“Hi, guys, thanks for coming,” Supergirl starts. “So as you know, I was working last year with a group called the Legion, who helped me deal with the Worldkiller attacks.”

“I…totally do not know anything about that, Supergirl.” Winn covers, badly.

 _He really doesn't enjoy lying, does he?_ Eve thinks to herself _. Not a terrible quality in a man, really._

Supergirl glances at Winn with a slightly exasperated look on her face, as she continues. “Yeah, okay, well anyway, the Legion's ship spent quite a while submerged here by the waterfront. Sometime while it was underwater, a component broke off and was lost. We think we've finally found it.”

“So you need us on the surface monitoring while you retrieve it?” Eve asks.

“Actually,” Lena interjects, “I need you to assist Mr. Schott in the sub.”

“WHAT?!” Eve and Winn say in unison. They look at each other, both a tiny bit hurt and offended at the other's reaction.

“I don't know anything about being in a submarine!” Eve protests. “Or alien spaceships! Why aren't YOU going down there?”

“Yeah, I thought it was going to be the two of you in the sub!” Winn balks, glancing back and forth at Kara and Lena.

“Winn, you know I get a little claustrophobic,” Kara says quietly to her friend. “Remember? Being stuck in a pod for 22 years? That whole thing? Plus, you know how to pilot the sub.” He did, in fact. More or less, anyway. He'd received pilot training on numerous space, air, and marine craft during his time in the future. This one was rudimentary compared to the ones he'd used there. But the principles of underwater locomotion were the same.

Lena pulls her assistant aside. “I need you to monitor the component’s radiation signature as you approach, to make sure it's safe to retrieve. All the equipment you'll need is already in the sub. And Winn is extremely capable. He's smart, he knows the tech, and he's done a lot of field work. Plus this is good for you! It'll be a wonderful learning experience. Besides, I have this…inner ear thing.”

Eve bites her lip and looks at her boss with skepticism. Or, as much of it as her bubbly frame can manage. “Ms. Luthor, I don't know…”

“Eve, you can do this. I have tremendous faith in you.”

She and Winn look at each other, a little apprehensively.

“I guess we're going on a three hour tour,” Winn jokes. “How are you at making radios out of coconuts?”

Eve doesn't answer, but chews on her lip somewhat more violently as she goes to board the sub.

Winn slumps his shoulders, puts his hands in his pockets and follows her in.

The sub is built for two passengers, but there's a small amount of room to maneuver. All the equipment is packed in toward the rear of the vessel, and Eve takes her place in the co-pilot’s seat next to Winn.

Kara pokes her head in the hatch overhead.

“Okay, guys. You all set?” she asks.

“Yeah, I think so,” Winn replies.

“Great! Good luck.”

“Oh wait, Supergirl, what IS this thing we're looking for?”

“A positron cannon.”

“Right, a positron…wait WHAT?! The ship's been missing a cannon all these years and this is the first I'm hearing about it?” He stops and looks at Eve, who has one eyebrow up again. _Dammit_.

“Uh, okay. Anyway, we should get moving,” Eve buckles herself in as Kara waves and shuts the hatch. Winn starts up the engine and they set off toward the ping on the map where they expect to find the cannon.

They sit in silence for a while. Finally, Winn can't take it anymore.

“Well,” he says, “Good news is there's nothing here for me to spill on you. And I'm fairly certain none of the equipment back there is on the verge of exploding.”

“Uh, maybe best not to joke about explosions when we're stuck in a pressurized tin can.”

“Right, yeah, sorry.”

He shuts up for a new moment, until some compulsion comes over him to just lay it all out there. To stop worrying about being cool. She's either going to like him or she won't.

“God, I just make the worst first impressions sometimes,” he blurts.

She looks at him, incredulous. “You? Are you kidding? I'm like a walking catastrophe!”

“What? No you weren't! You're, like, perfect, and I'm this big blubbering idiot.”

“That's not…I'm…you're not an idiot! You're the guy who left post-its all over my terminal that have probably saved me from accidentally setting the LCorp building on fire!”

“...You kept those?”

“Every one.”

Then all of a sudden they're just sitting there, under the water, looking into each other's eyes.

BEEEEP…BEEEEP...BEEEEP…

The screen on their left indicates they're approaching the site of the lost positron cannon.

Getting back to the task at hand, they sheepishly retreat to the safety of the various screens and gadgets they're commanding.

“How do our levels look, Ms. Teschmacher?” he reverts to a more professional formality, hoping it will help him create some semblance of distance, despite the coziness of their immediate environs.

“Uh, good. Well within the safe range. We should be able to retrieve the cannon, no problem.”

“Okay, then. I'm extending the robotic arm.” The giant metal appendage reaches towards the floor of the bay, where there's a large lump of something covered by silt and barnacles.

Quite adeptly, impressing even himself, he maneuvers the mechanical hand around the mysterious object.

Without warning, purple lights on the object begin flashing, increasingly visible as the silt and gunk sloughs off of it thanks to the jostling of the arm. An accompanying sound indicates the weapon is engaging, despite the fact that it's attached to exactly nothing in need of protection.

“OH CRAP!” Winn shouts, before the weapon fires, jerking the metallic arm and causing the entire sub to spin briefly. The ensuing shock wave of the beam hitting the floor of the bay does nothing to help matters, as the whole craft is launched backwards and flips itself upside down momentarily.

Winn and Eve find themselves floating aimlessly underwater, all lights and instruments dark. The only illumination is the small amount of light that enters through the sub’s windshield and a couple small portholes on each side.

Luckily, the submarine rights itself on its own, but with no power they're unable to resurface. They're stuck.

“What happened?” Eve asks.

“Guess we forgot about the bullet in the chamber.” Winn answers. She looks at him, panic clearly starting to bubble up. “It's okay, I guess there was just enough charge left in the cannon to let off one last shot. It should be okay now, but I think it knocked out our power supply.”

Frantically, they fiddle with the ship's controls, to no avail. Winn tries the radio over and over. Nothing.

“What are we going to do?” Eve worries. “How much oxygen do we have?”

“About five hours’ worth. Luckily, the O2 tanks don't require electricity.” He doesn't add that his Legion ring also enables the wearer to breathe if they need to abandon the craft and surface on their own. Or, one of them, anyway. _Her_.

Obviously, that's a last resort. Though he's already trying to calculate in his head whether he can reasonably get to the surface alive from this depth.

He does, however, surreptitiously activate the distress beacon on his ring. Since Kara is nearby, she should see the alert immediately and be able to find them. No need to worry, right?

“Look, Eve, Supergirl knows we're down here. She'll find us. Everything's going to be okay.”

“You're right. She'll find us. I guess we just sit tight, then.” She chuckles, trying to cover her skittishness.

“So…did you grow up around here?” Eve asks. Small talk is certainly better than awkward silence.

“No, uh, New Jersey. But I've lived here a long time. And I…got shuffled around a lot as a kid,” Winn answers.

“Really? Why?”

“Uh, just…family stuff. My parents…weren't really in the picture.”

“Oh. I'm sorry. Mine neither.”

“Seriously? I'm sorry too, then.”

“It's okay, my grandparents raised me. They weren't very…involved, but they were good people.”

“It sucks, doesn't it? Not having your parents be there for you?”

“Yeah. It really does. If I ever manage to have kids, I've always promised myself I'm going to be very engaged in their lives. Which probably means I'll be the worst helicopter mom of all time, but so be it, I guess.” She chuckles a little, half-heartedly.

“I bet you'd make a great mom. You're driven, smart, kind-hearted. It's probably why you've gotten so far in life.”

“Yeah, you too. I wasn't kidding about the post-its. Honestly, you're really smart and your life…I mean, helping Supergirl and whatever do-gooder stuff you obviously do. It's really impressive.”

Her praise gives Winn a warm, calm feeling. But then she starts gnawing on her lip again, like she's trying to decide whether to say something.

“You know, I know we don't really know each other...yet. But you can talk to me, about anything that's on your mind. I like to think I'm a pretty good listener,” Winn offers.

“It's just, I know you have secrets.”

He takes a sharp breath in at this, though after all that's happened he knows he shouldn't be surprised. He hasn't exactly employed James Bond levels of stealth the few times he's been around her. He's generally not skilled at cover-ups, but there's something about her that makes it damn near impossible to hold back the truth.

She continues, “I have a little experience keeping the secrets of powerful people…even _Super_ -powerful people.” She lowers her voice a little, knowingly, and it sounds like honey to his ears.

And then she quirks a lopsided smile at him, and winks.

“So…how long do you think it will take Kara and Mike to get here?”

“I'm not sure, hopefully not too…WHOA! HOW DID...I mean, wh…Kara? Mike? What about them?”

She bursts out laughing, and he drops his head into his hands.

“Ugh, please at least tell me you figured it out before you met me. I'd hate to think my total absence of cool is what tipped you off.”

“Oh, honey, I saw Kara get into an elevator once and five minutes later there was a Kara-sized hole in the roof. And THEN I found her work clothes strewn all over the elevator cab’s floor. Please, it's basically an open secret at Catco. Besides, Kara and Mike look suspiciously like Supergirl and her partner in the red suit. Except with glasses. And by the way, those kids of hers that she's supposedly adopting because some random relative died? Yeah, they really look an awful lot like what I'd imagine Kara and Mike's kids would look like. Go figure, right?”

Winn opens his mouth to reply, then stops and stares at her.

“You just called me honey,” he finally says.

“I did.” A grin slowly blossoms on her face.

“I liked it.”

“Me too.”

He takes a deep breath, looks into her eyes, and leans toward her, their lips meeting gently. It's soft. Sweet. He pulls back, looks at her again, hopeful that maybe there's an actual chance she's feeling what he's feeling. She bites her lip again, but this time it's not because of nerves, clearly. It's because of hunger.

“Come here, honey,” she says. He dives back in, kissing her deeply and ravenously.

When they finally pull apart, out of breath, she says, “okay, seriously though, I am gonna need some kind of explanation about how Kara and Mike suddenly have four kids. Because I strongly suspect there's a crazy adventure involved which you were a part of.”

“You're not wrong about that. And I will definitely tell you, with their permission, but, umm, for now? I’d really like to keep kissing you.”

“Just kissing?” she asks in that sultry voice again.

Winn’s eyes light up, and he drags her back onto the floor of the sub, where thank Rao there's just enough room for the two of them.

“I knew it!” he exclaims between kisses and...other stuff. “You're exactly my type!”

Outside the sub, two pairs of hands grab either side of the hull, and the craft starts its ascent to the surface. It's occupants remain oblivious to this fact, their attention entirely focused on each other.

As the ship emerges from the depths of the bay into the sunlight and air, Kara and Mon-El let go, buoyancy achieved. They hover just above as Kara uses her x-ray vision to see if her friends are okay. What she sees indicates they are more than just okay.

“Aww, babe, they're kissing!” She beams at her soaking-wet husband. He laughs, holding his hand up to high-five her.

“You were right, as usual, my love,” the Daxamite says, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

“I knew if we just created the right circumstances things would work themselves out.”

“Very glad we didn't accidentally kill them in the name of love, though.”

“Okay, how was I supposed to know that the DEO's old positron cannon would still be able to shoot? My cousin blasted it with his heat vision!”

“Well, it all worked out. Should we open the hatch and grab them, you think?”

“Well. Let me seeeeeeOHMYGOD!” she yells, covering her eyes, and reaching her unoccupied hand to cover her husband's eyes.

“Kara, I don't even have x-ray vision!” he argues.

“Yeah, well, be glad of that right now! God, I wish I had a lead blindfold. Ugh, okay. Lena's coming with a tug to tow this thing back to shore, and I left her a communicator that can pick up any messages from his Legion ring. I say we let her deal with all... _this_.”

“Agreed. And I don't know if I have a lead blindfold, but the kids are at the DEO day care. How about I take my beautiful cupid-wife home and we'll see what other kinds of shenanigans we can get into?”

Kara tilts her head to one side, pretending to mull this proposal. “Hmmm...race ya!” Kara is off like a shot, Mon-El following quickly behind, the sound of a sonic boom drowning out their excited giggles.

Lena, communicator in hand, is on the prow of the approaching tug, pressing whatever button Kara said should connect her to the pair in the sub.

“Winn? Eve? Are you guys okay? If you can hear this, we have your location and we're on our way. So don't panic, okay?”

The device lights up and she hears the sound of heavy breathing. “Oh, um, hey Lena. This is Winn. We're fine. No rush on the rescue. Like we could even wait, like, half an hour...ahhhAAAAHHHH! Okay! An hour! Gotta go!”

“Winn? What was that…OH GOD.” She turns around, directs the Captain to stop the boat, and sits down in her $800 dress on a nearby railing to wait.

“Note to self: next time Supergirl wants to use my million-dollar submarine to get her friends laid…just say no.”


End file.
